Moments....

...this week of...

...happiness the sun on my face, finding a new nature reserve near where we live, a Jacobs Join Dinner with friends, a trip to a wonderful free museum

...sadness that my nephew is still really unhappy

...creating a bag, biscuits, an adaptation to a cardigan pattern

...reading Awakening by William Horwood, to the children Cherry Time at Bullerby, and these picture books*, 85. Cookie and the Secret Sleepover by Mandy Archer, 86. Shopping by Jess Stockham, 87. Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson, 88. I Want to Win by Maria Papyanni, 89. Ginger and the Mystery Visitor by Charlotte Voake, 90. The Jungle Run by Tony Mitton, 91. Christopher's Bicycle by Charlotte Middleton, 92. Christopher's Caterpillars by Charlotte Middleton

...learning about fossils, dinosaurs, digestion, rocks, caterpillars, recycling

...thinking about a friend who is away from her children

...wondering if I can make a dress for my youngest using one of her own dresses as a pattern

...hoping to get the door frames sanded and painted this week

...looking forward to a bike ride with the children

*Joining in with 300 Picture Book Challenge

Gratitudes

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...sunshine

...meals with friends

...a good book to read and time to read it

...a free museum

...finding more beautiful walks near to where we live

...the library

...sewing time

...the green haze of spring

...my husband returning safely to us after time away

Remoulade

It is very rare for us to visit the fruit and veg section of a supermarket but when we do I always get a barrage of questions from my children.  There are many vegetables and even more fruit that we don't buy, not because they are too expensive but because they are out of season.  When I was a child, fruit and veg was only available 'in season' and we would look forward to strawberries in the summer and satsumas in the winter.  My youngest loves strawberries and cannot understand, when they are available to buy, why we don't buy them more often.  It is important to me to explain why we don't but I can tell that her four year old mind doesn't really comprehend it, why she asks are they on sale?  A good question indeed, perhaps I should get her to write to the supermarkets!

There are many, many benefits to eating seasonally but if I was to pick one downside it is at this time of year.  Traditionally known as the hungry gap, the time when there is little or no fresh produce and that which has been stored is perhaps less than palatable.  Root vegetables are available in abundance in the Autumn and Winter and as we move into those seasons from the Summer I welcome them.  However five months later I am ready for a change and I have run out of inspiration for recipes.

On those days when it is a bit warmer a hearty vegetable stew is not what any of us want to eat but a salad hits the spot.  In my veg bag this week I had a celeriac bulb.  I usually cook celeriac in stews, soups and crumbles but I needed a change especially as the forecast was for a warmer week.  I had, in the past, eaten a salad made with grated celeriac and went on a search for a recipe and came up with this one.  It is incredibly quick, easy and even better tasty.  You can never have too much of a good thing, can you, no wait you can roll on spring vegetables...........in the meantime, carrot and celeriac remoulade.

Carrot and Celeriac Remoulade

1 celeriac peeled and grated
1 carrot peeled and grated
1 tbsp dried dill or small bunch fresh dill chopped
Mayonnaise

Put the vegetables in a large bowl with the dill.  If, like me, you have a very large celeriac bulb then just use a third to half.  Mix in the mayonnaise, enough to suit your taste.



A remoulade is a sauce or condiment and this is a wonderful addition to a meal.  I served this with some broccoli fritters you can find the recipe for them here.

This recipe is part of Elizabeth Kitchen Diaries, Shop Local #7 challenge. Any ideas for what to do with parsnips, we seem to have rather a lot........

Intentions

How many times, I wonder, have you pinned or bookmarked something you have found on the web that one day you would like to make.  Somehow that day has never arrived.  Or what about if you go and buy the materials for a project, but still the day has never arrived.  I have looked through some of the ideas I have earmarked to make one day and realised that many of them are lovely but I cannot imagine them being used in our house or ever making them as a gift.  I just liked them at the time.

I was given a copy of this lovely book for my birthday last year.  I was very familiar with all the patterns as I had had a copy out the library for months.  Having my own copy rekindled my desire to make some more of the projects in the book as presents and I went out and bought some material for one of them, which languished in a drawer until this week.  Finally I cut out the pieces I needed and sewed them up.

This pattern is called a Gathering Bag and mine is not quite the same as the original.  The bag includes a pocket which is meant to be on the outside at the back.  My interpretation of the pattern was incorrect and I have ended up with a pocket on the front which the flap comes down to.  I am good with this, although it would have been better if the pattern on the pocket and flap lined up........you change some, you win some.  I think I will sew a magnetic clasp to keep the bag closed and a friend's son is making me a wooden button to sew on the front of the flap.  I had originally intended to make this to give as a present and I still will, just not sure who yet.  But it is always useful to have a present ready and waiting, right?

I have found another idea for something I want to make next and rather wonderfully I have material in my stash, leftovers from other projects, to make it.  So I am not going to leave it for months and hope to show you what it is very soon.......have you been making anything recently?  If you head over to Frontier Dreams you can see what others have been making.

Moments...

...happiness sunshine, walks outside, sewing and making, 

...sadness rudeness

...creating banana muffins, halloumi, mozarella, a bag, Mother Earth, a cardigan

...reading Hyddenworld by William Horwood, to the children, Cherry Time at Bullerby by Astrid Lindgren, and these picture books* 79. Spring Story by Jill Barklem, 80. Doing the Garden by Sarah Garland, 81. Mouse Moves House by Nick Sharratt, 82. Little Grey Rabbit's Party by Alison Uttley, 83. Michael Bird-Boy by Tomie de Paola, 84. Where do Babies Come From? by Angela Royston

...learning about amnesia, anaesthetics, tongues, jaws, dinosaurs, geological time scale, pollution, fossils, rocks

...thinking about a friend who is having a difficult time at the moment

...hoping to do some more sewing this week

...looking forward to a trip out on the train this week

*Joining in with the 300 Picture Book Challenge

Gratitudes

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for....

...beautiful music

...lovely places to walk near to where we live

...a cup of tea and chat with a friend

...friends coming over to play

...invitations to do things with friends for next week

...a plentiful supply of wood for our wood burning stove now that the weather has turned cold again

...my neighbours preventing a tree in their garden falling onto our polytunnel, it has been very windy here this week

...a wonderful puppet show in the village hall, part of a rural touring scheme for theatre, music and arts in our area

...good books to read

Grass

It is coming round to that time of year when, in my country, there will be a regular pilgrimage to the shed.  A machine will be extracted to cut the head off a plant that must be the most widely grown in the country.  Grass.  It is highly convenient to gardeners that grass does not grow below 7°C and therefore does not need cutting for some months of the year.  In the past it was a sign of class, of upward mobility, of wealth, nowadays, for some, a neatly manicured lawn is an obsession integral part of their garden.  It is odd really that one plant has become so important in the national pysche.

Grass grows everywhere, literally.  No other plant family has a wider environmental range, it can tolerate cold, it grows in the polar regions and on mountain tops, and heat.  Their ability to adapt and grow almost anywhere has no doubt contributed to their success as a plant.  The Grass family includes rushes, sedges, cereals and bamboo.   Rushes, they are round whilst sedges have edges, were used to light houses before electricity.  Rushlights were the pithy interior steeped in fat, set in a clip and burnt to provide a weak, as we know it, light.  I have been told that the saying 'burning the candle at both ends' may come from this, but don't quote me on that one!  Rushes can also be dried and woven.  They provided matting in houses for walking and sleeping on as well as seat covers and baskets.  Cereals are a staple crop, they are the most widely eaten and produced all over the world.

When we moved to our house eleven years ago we inherited with it a garden that was largely grass.  Other plants were attempting to grow but with such a large population of wild rabbits in the area they were struggling to survive.  The rabbits have been excluded from the garden along with the grass.  We did not own a lawn mower and had no plans to buy one.  Much as we would love to own a large enough plot of land that some could be left as grass, we don't and we wanted to grow fruit, veg and bee friendly plants and the entire garden is given over to this.  We removed the grass by covering the entire garden with old carpet, old black plastic bags and cardboard (we had a plentiful supply of this) not long after we moved in.  We left this covering on for months replacing any that had rotted down.  As we worked on each part of the garden we removed the covering and throughly dug it over.  There is a small patch, growing bigger each year, where we obviously were not so thorough.  I think it was probably one of the last parts of the garden we dug over and by then probably also loosing the will to live.  Most of the patch is under a path each spring, as the grass starts to regrow, it reminds me that we meant to take up the path and dig over the ground........

Most lawns are in fact not entirely grass.  Those that are so carefully managed are to my mind the most artificial not just because they are manicured to within an inch of their life, but that they are a monoculture in microcosm.  They offer no nourishment to our pollinators.  I bet if you were to look closely at your lawn you will see an abundance of different plants and more than plant life flourishing.  A lawn doesn't need to be grass at all. What about chamomile or thyme?  We planted a thyme lawn in the area we hang a hammock.  We knew it would be an area that would need to walked on so growing veggies there was not an option, from a few plants it has now established itself into a fragrant carpet which can also be eaten!  What about you, do you have a lawn?

Knitting

Progress is interesting isn't it.  Every Wednesday lots of bloggers come together and write about what they have been making with yarn.  Usually the pictures show more rows of crochet or knitting than previous weeks, a work in progress is a project that is getting nearer the end, or is it?  What about the project that grows very slowly, or grows a bit shrinks a bit, grows a bit, stalls a bit, is that progress too?

For the last few weeks I have been sharing one project, my Shalom, which is doing just that.  I knit a bit, frog a bit, knit a bit more, frog a bit more.......and yet I am making progress.  Frogging, the art of ripping out stitches, is often seen a negative part of a project, a sign of a mistake but if we were to turn this on its head and view it positively what is it now?  Learning, improving skills, progress.  So my shalom as pictured here is not to stay, I have knitted a lot of rows this week but it needs frogging again I am just debating by how much.  I had spent all my time ensuring that the front of the cardigan looked right, the front as the pattern is written is not meant to meet, I wanted to be able to button the cardigan all the way down.  What I had neglected was the back, when I tried it on a couple of days ago I realised that the back was flapping about like a flag in the wind.  I was also a little perturbed  at the amount of yarn I had left, this project seemed to be eating up yarn at an incredible rate there was not going to be any left for the sleeves.  Not surprising really as I was knitting up a garment for two and as I am not proposing on mutating any time soon there is little call for that round here.  So now I am pondering my next move, progress it is, if a little different!

I have been busy, in the meantime, knitting up a bowl.  The pattern can be found here.  It is fulled or felted depending on your take on such things.

It would of course be rather odd to read a book by flitting about between the chapters, depending on the book, it may make no sense.  So my progress in reading has been forward through a book, an excellent one in fact.  I am nearing the end of Kith by Jay Griffiths, but I am sure I will return to it again and again.  Her take on childhood and all its many facets is inspiring, thoughtful and, for me, reassuring.  She laments the loss of so many aspects and offers her own explanations of why this may have happened.  What she doesn't do is preach or suggest what we should be doing.  This is her essay, her opinions and she leaves you to decide for yourself whether you agree or not.

As it's Wednesday I am joining in with Tami and Ginny head on over to see some progress!

Fulling

I was talking with a friend recently about felting.  She was making felted bracelets and I was knitting a bowl for felting or so I thought.  Apparently I wasn't.  Felting is the process of laying down layers of raw unspun fibres and using water and soap to make the fibres hook together.  Fulling, on the other hand is knitting, crocheting or weaving with spun fibres an oversized project which is machine washed to shrink it.  So I was fulling not felting.

I have made several small bowls which I have fulled but I wanted something a bit larger to store nature finds on our seasonal table.  The small bowls are little on the deep side for this,  I wanted a bowl with a wider, flat base.  I used the original pattern as a basis to create my own.  

The yarn you use needs to be one that can be fulled/felted, it must be 100% wool and not super wash, this inhibits the fulling/felting process.  I used a roving yarn, this pattern used 75m of the yarn on four 8mm, Size 11 double pointed needles.

Fulled/Felted Bowl &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp

Cast on 100 stitches, divide between the needles, join in the round being careful not to twist, place marker.

Round 1: K

Round 2: P

Round3: K

Continuing knitting rounds until work measures 3"

Shaping

Round 1: *K18, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 2: *K17, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 3: *K16, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 4: *K15, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 5: *K14, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 6: *K13, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 7: *K12, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 8: *K11, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 9: *K10, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 10: *K9, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 11: *K8, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 12: *K7, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 13: *K6, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 14: *K5, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 15: *K4, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 16: *K3, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 17: *K2, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Round 18: *K1, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round

Break yarn leaving a 6" tail, thread the yarn through the remaining stitches, pull tight and weave in.

Place the bowl in a mesh bag or pair of tights and put in the washing machine with the rest of your washing.  It is not true that you 'need' to have a top loading machine to do this as so many websites seem to suggest.  I have a front loading machine and have successfully fulled/felted many projects including unintentional ones!  I use my own washing powder made of bicarb and borax, bicarb, I have read, can assist with the felting process.  Felting/Fulling is not an exact science but it is good fun and I will definitely be making more of these and experimenting further with different sizes.

Joining in with Nicole for this week Keep Calm Craft On, head on over to see what others have been making.....

Moments...

...this week of...

...happiness a walk with friends, a long afternoon play with friends, friends over for dinner, the smell of washing dried outside

...sadness that a teenager I know is unable to make any decisions without his parents

...creating gingerbread men, a daisy headband, a cardigan

...reading Kith by Jay Griffiths, to the children The Six Bullerby Children by Astrid Lindgren, and these picture books*, 70. Itsy Bitsy Babies by Margaret Wild, 71. Henry Helps with the Baby by Beth Bracken, 72. Skipping Rope Snake by Carol Ann Duffy, 73. Miffy at the Zoo by Dick Bruna, 74. Miffy's Play Date by Dick Bruna, 75. The Tomtes of Hilltop Stream by Brenda Tyler, 76. Farmer John's Tractor by Sally Sutton, 77. Cupcake and the Princess Party by Mandy Archer, 78. Here Comes Frankie by Tim Hopgood

...learning about Dinosaurs, floating and sinking, jazz music, spouts, solids and liquids, working out areas of circles and volumes of shapes, ice age, glaciers, erratics, drumlins, rock scouring

...thinking about a friend who is travelling to the States this week for treatment for one of her children, she is leaving three children at home with their father and grand parents.

...hoping that I can stay motivated to do more in the garden this week

...looking forward to a puppet show in our village on Friday

* Joining in with 300 Picture Book Challenge

Gratitudes

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...more dry weather

...a wonderful walk with friends

...time in the garden

...the dry weather allowing the soil in my garden in dry out a little, it is very saturated

...primroses and crocuses flowering in my garden

...a friend offering to look after the children for a couple of hours

...smiles first thing in the morning

...a wonderful giveaway on its way, still can't quite believe it

...a spring declutter following some much needed DIY

....secondhand books

...my children's health

Knitting

My hands have been very busy this week, mostly engaged in DIY with a little knitting on the side.  I have been sanding and painting architraves, door ones.  To look at my knitting you would think that there has been no progress on last week and physically there hasn't really.  I am good with that.  I finished the twisted rib and started on several rows of stocking stitch before deciding it looked odd, the twisted rib needed a garter stitch edge to complete it before starting on the stocking stitch.  So I ripped out the six or seven rows I had knitted and added in a garter rib.  I am liking this process, it is slow and steady but I feels good a stepping stone to designing my own patterns.....one day.......maybe!

I have been reading the wonderful Kith this week.  When you choose to parent differently from others it is sometimes hard to stay on that path, the draw to not have to 'justify' your decision making because it is different can be strong.  When you read a book like this, that confirms your decisions are good ones, it makes me happy to be forging the path that we do.

*************

The monochromatic picture this week is at odds with my world at the moment.  Outside my window the sun is shining, the sky is blue and life is good.  The grey world of winter has gone.....

It is Wednesday so joining in with Tami and Ginny for sharing of yarny projects.

Daisies

Every week we travel to a friends house to join in the singing group she runs for a few families.  My youngest loves this group and currently it is the only time in the week we do something, outside the house, specifically for her.  A couple of weeks ago she rang to cancel the group for that week as her daughter was unwell.  By the end of the week she had had a major operation.  Luckily for her when she took her daughter to the GP (doctor) earlier in the week he had referred them to the hospital.

I really wanted to make a small gift for the daughter, something I could post as I was not sure when I would see them again and something that I could make with what I already had in the house.  I decided upon a felt headband using the lovely book, The Children's Year, for measurements.  The book suggests using small pieces of felt cut into shapes to decorate, I wanted daisies and used the Lazy Daisy Stitch with a French Knot in the middle.  A small length of elastic sewn onto the felt and voilà a simple headband.

I can see more of these being made and if we use small pieces of felt, they could be made by my daughter, glued on then a simple running stitch round the edge of each small piece.  A small simple project.

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm, Craft On.

Moments...

...this week of…

…happiness sunshine, blue sky, warmer temperatures, a bike ride, getting some much needed DIY done, a wonderful lunchtime concert

…sadness that a friend's son has to travel to the States for nine weeks of treatment for a tumour

…creating makedo models, jigsaws, a farm, a hairband, a play cape, a felted bowl, stop motion animation with lego

...reading Kith by Jay Griffiths and these picture books*, with a short review here, 63. The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson, 64. The High Street by Alice Melvin, 65. Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown, 66. Spring by Gerda Muller, 67. The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, 68. Dinosaur Roar by Paul Strickland, 69. Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Strickland

…learning about centrillion, million, deposition and erosion of rivers, evolution vs creationism, bones, teeth, Easter Island, fire, dinosaurs, stop motion animation, wildlife of the arctic, brass instruments, roman numerals

…thinking about a friend whose daughter is recovering from a major emergency operation

…hoping we can spend a day with friends before they go away for six weeks

…looking forward to getting some seeds sown this week

* Joining in with the 300 Picture Books Challenge

Gratitudes

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...drier days

...blue sky

...spring flowers

...washing drying in a day

...the smell of washing dried outside

...catching up with a friend I have not seen for a few months

...an afternoon bike ride

...a wonderful lunchtime brass concert

...finding an unopened box of makedo in a charity shop

...finding inner peace and calm after a difficult few weeks

...the lady in our local bookshop reading a book to my youngest whilst I chose a book with my eldest

Cycles

The wheel of the year is moving and it feels like a change in the weather is here.  The days are drier, in the main, the sky is occassionally blue and it is slightly warmer.  We are emerging slowly from the grey and wet of this past winter.  It feels like we are emerging from a period of hibernation, it is good to be outside.

At the beginning of last Autumn our week started to evolve into a new rhythm following some major changes in our family life.  At that time we were doing different activities each day at home, coupled with time out side the house with friends, joining groups and being outdoors.  As we moved into the Winter months the rhythm changed again we stopped attending one of our groups and spending so much time outside.  I was really concerned that we would become stir crazy being at home all the time but in reality it hasn't been like that at all.  The last time we had so few organised plans in our week was in the early days of home educating, we hardly knew anyone then and didn't have the confidence to organise things ourselves.  A few years down the line things are very different, if we do have a quiet week it is usually in between busier ones but not so busy that they are hectic, I have learnt that lesson too!

Our mornings are spent at home, in the main, Thursdays we go out late morning.  This is our family time for doing things together.  I offer activities etc based on which day of the week it is but these are not always taken up which I am not concerned about.  I often find that if the are not interested at the time they are later on in the day or the week.  I am not regimental.  Monday is numbers, maths and baking, Tuesday is making things, painting etc, Wednesday is music, Thursday is language, Friday is Science.

We usually have lunch at home together at the table.  We sometimes sing songs, we usually read a chapter or story from a book and some poems related to our theme or interests bringing our morning to a close.

The afternoons are slightly more adhoc, Monday is singing group at a friends house, Thursday is our day to go into our local town, we shop and go swimming.  Tuesdays, now that the weather is changing, is our afternoon outside.  We have had this planned in our week before, to go for a walk once a week on the same day but it didn't really work, we didn't stick to it.  The children were not really interested in going for a walk every week, although they do love being outside.  So I am trying something else for now, a walk, a bike ride, some bird watching, a local ruinous castle with extensive grounds which the children never tire of exploring, alternating between the activities one each week through the month.  The other days?  Well they are time for play dates, visits to musuems and always a day at home for rest and recharging.  We invite friends to join us on a Tuesday if they want to, if they don't we go anyway.

Not so long ago I couldn't manage an adhoc rhythm, I needed regularity knowing that something was going to happen every week on the same day.  I am sure this was a reaction to those early days when I would go for days on end not seeing any other adult other than my husband at the beginning and the end of the day.  I am more confident now, not rebuffed by folks saying no to offers we make.  Our lives are just as busy, with plans made a week or so in advance.  It has a flow to it that I am enjoying. This is how our lives are now in a few months I have no doubt our rhythm will be different as the seasons and my children's interests and needs change.  I am good with this too, in the past I needed it to be a constant.  The future is an exciting place.

Knitting

I have not been knitting much these past few weeks, after the mad rush to get my Christmas presents and then my mums birthday present knitted up I am having a wee rest.  Only picking up my knitting every now again knitting the odd row, progress is slow but I happy with that for now.   I have two projects on the needles and no urge to cast on any more for now.  My shalom is nearly to the point where I have finished the twisted rib and then I need to do so more measuring to work out how many more rows, if any, I need to do before dividing for the sleeves.  I am liking this type of knitting, not just following the pattern but working with the pattern to divise my own version of it, making it mine.

What I have been doing a lot of this week is reading.  I have finished one book, read two from cover to cover and started a fourth.  I ordered my own copy of Mathematics Minus Fear and finished up reading it early this week, I have loved this book from start to finish, there were lots of maths problems to solve on each page which were great for reminding me how to do things!  I have read a lot about Life after Life by Kate Atkinson and really wanted to read it for myself.  I have loved all the books of hers that I have read, which is most of them, bar one Human Croquet.  Life after Life was a wonderful read, it did take me a while to get into it, but once I had I could not put it down.  It seems like a strange concept for a novel, the life of one person, Ursula Todd, which she lives over and over again from her birth to retirement, but it works.  Dearest Rose by Rowan Coleman was a completely different book, tackling the difficult subject of domestic abuse.  I have really struggled to read books of this nature, particularly when children are included, since becoming a mother.  A friend of mine has recently walked away from an abusive marriage, I had no idea that it was.  This has helped me to understand why I didn't know and a bit more on why she may have chosen to stay as long as she did, I have never judged her for this I just needed to understand for myself.  I cried at the end of this book, it has left me with so many thoughts which I am now trying to process.  I am now reading another book, Kith by Jay Griffiths, which I have read lots about, this has been sat in my waiting to be read pile since Christmas and I can't think why I waited so long.  I am a few chapters in and it is a wonderful read.

So what about you what have you been doing this week?  Any knitting or reading?  Joining in with Tami for sharing of yarn works in progress head on over to see what others are making….

Moments...

It is the beginning of the month so, once again, I have a slightly different Moments post.  This is a reflection on the month using the goals suggested over on Slow Living Essentials, so here are mine for February and head on over to see what others have been up to.

…nourish some time before Christmas I started to buy raw milk from a local farm to make yogurt.  I had met the farmer at our local farmers market a few years ago but had yet to take the plunge and buy the milk.  I was given a cheese making book and a few items to make cheese with by my mother for Christmas.  It was the perfect present and she was unaware I was already making yogurt.  I have made several different cheeses, including cream cheese, feta, mozzarella and the best, for me, Halloumi.  I am not sure I will make feta that often again it was fiddly and tasted odd, the cream cheese was great but made too big a quantity, the mozzarella I have made several times and is very quick and easy, but the Halloumi is just wonderful.  It tastes nothing like the stuff I buy in the shops but nonetheless it has a wonderful taste.  I suspect that this is down to the milk I am using, it is probably not the same as they use in Cyprus where this cheese is usually made.  Making my own works out so much cheaper and as the milk has only come from five miles down the road the distance it has had to travel is considerably less!

…prepare in the Winter months we love to eat soup.  It makes a welcome addition to our picnics.  Last year I started to batch cook a large amount for freezing with veg I have bought from our local Farmers Market, our market is monthly, this year I have been doing the same.

…reduce early in the month my husband went to our village recycling point with our recycling and returned with a child's bike that had been abandoned there.  He spent a couple of days working on it, buying a few small pieces that he did not have, and we now have a bike that my eldest can ride.  We bought him a bike last year which is a little on the big side, that too was secondhand and a very good price.  For now he will ride the smaller one, until he has grown a little.

…green we have lived in our house for eleven years.  Slowly, over that time, we have been redecorating each room.  The most recent one to be decorated is a bedroom for my youngest.  We finished painting it and building furniture for it a while ago and it is in real need of a new carpet.  Our income has been precarious over the last year so we did not want to make any large expenditure, now that my husband has returned to being an employee we are confident in our income.  We visited a local carpet shop and came home with some samples.  The choice was between 100% wool or a wool and acrylic mix.  We spent some time deciding and researching which was the better of the two.  We knew that we really wanted the 100% wool carpet but had to be sure that this was the best option for the room and not just based on our desire for natural materials.  We have opted for the 100% wool.  The carpet in the room is a very old and worn wool one which has now been cut up and put in the compost bin to assist the decomposition by keeping the contents warm.

…grow I finally got round to buying myself a new calendar for garden planning.  Last year I gave biodynamic gardening a go for the first time.  It was in the main successful.  It was an unusually warm summer for us last year, the hottest in the eleven years I have been at my house.  I would like to give this method a few more years before deciding whether it really does work.  What I really love about it tho is the framework it provides for me to ensure that I make time and spend time in the garden.  As you only do particular tasks on particular days it does not feel onerous and overwhelming.  A gardeners work is never done!  I have spent some time planning, and buying seeds and am all set to go for the this year, here is hoping it will be a good one…..

…create we made a wee felt snowdrop fairy for our seasonal table and lots of birthday cards.  The first part of the month, for me, was taken up with a shawl that I knitted for my mother for her birthday.  This was my first shawl and I was really pleased with how it turned out, my mum loved it too!  The pattern is Guernsey Triangle.  I have also been knitting up two cardigans which are still work in progress.

…discover last month I posted about my quandary regarding the future of my eldest's education.  At the moment he is home educated and I was unsure if I should continue once he reached the age, in the UK, where he as due to start at Secondary School.  I have spent this month reading and researching about education from the age of 11 both at home and in a school.  I have talked to friends, had some wonderful comments from fellow bloggers and talked to my family.  I still have more thinking and reading to do but I feel a little clearer now as to what my options are and how I feel about them.

…enhance regular readers of my blog will now that I occasionally post about home education and what that means to me and my family.  One of my biggest worries about home educating was how I would feel with the adults, the parents of any children my own children made friends with.  I had always considered myself to be someone who finds it hard to be part of a big group, who doesn't make friends easily.  I have come to realise that this is not actually true, yes I am not keen on big groups but I do make friends.  It takes time and effort to build a true friendship.  I now have a small group of people who live near to me who I can truly count on as friends.  I really feel that I am part of something, I am really comfortable with all these people and want to spend time with them.  This last month I have managed to do this, and it has made me realise that if you really value a friendship you have to work hard to make it work but it is worth it.

…enjoy the absolute highlight for me this month has been spending a few days with my whole family.  I have two younger brothers, one lives near my parents, the other nearer to me.  We are spread out, busy people who rarely come together and spend time together so when we do it is really special.  This is the first time we have all actually been together since the birth of my nephews last year.  It was my mums birthday, a special one, her only request was for us all to come and spend a weekend with her, how could we refuse?

**********

...continuing from my usual moments posts...

...reading these picture books*, with a short review here, 52. Sparkly Shoes and Picnic Parties by Sophie Tilley, 53. Grandma and Grandpa's Garden by Neil Griffiths, 54. When Dragons are Dreaming by James Mayhew, 55. Going Swimming by Frances Lincoln, 56. Bop's Hiccups by Joel Stewart, 57. Friends by Eric Carle, 58. A Big Operation by Richard Scarry, 59. Peepo by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, 60. Oliver and the Noisy Baby by Nick Maland, 61. I am not sleepy and I will not go to bed by Lauren Child, 62. Jack and the FlumFlum Tree by Julia Donaldson.

* Joining in with 300 Picture Book Challenge

Gratitudes

Joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...a spring feel in the air

...drier days

...blue in the sky

...catching up with friends

...last minute arrangements

...a wonderful book and time to read it

...my children's good health

...my husband collecting wood for next winter

...a quiet hour in a bird hide
Taryn